Lord Best — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Proceedings 22 June 2026

My Lords, would the Minister agree that a rather surprising and paradoxical way of helping first-time buyers is through making it easier to build for last-time buyers: those who want to downsize or right-size? Then you get two for one: you are helping the elder person but also providing, through the…

Lords Debate 15 June 2026

Social Housing Bill [HL]

My Lords, my name is on Amendments 37, 38 and 44 in this group, all relating to the disposal of social housing to other buyers—which is quite separate from the right to buy for existing tenants, as they are sales to other purchasers. I have a good deal of sympathy with the comments made by the noble…

Lords Proceedings 8 June 2026

Affordable Housing: Young People

My Lords, does the Minister agree that there is now a brilliant new way of helping young people get the accommodation they need: intergenerational housing? Pioneered by the Phoenix Community Housing association in Lewisham, in schemes involving apartments for older people, a proportion are allocated…

Lords Proceedings 20 May 2026

King’s Speech

My Lords, my contribution today considers the housing aspects of the King’s Speech, and I will echo some of the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham. I declare my housing interests as listed in the register, including chairing the Northern Housing Consortium’s Renew initiative to boo…

Lords Oral Questions 23 April 2026

Home Ownership: First-Time Buyers

The noble Lord is quite right to say that, where people are not able to buy their own homes, this can lead to problems later on where people on fixed incomes later in life are on rapidly increasing rent. So it is very important that we try to encourage as many young people as possible who are able t…

Lords Debate 13 April 2026

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, I will speak for one minute on Amendment 307. It is in my name but has been championed by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, for months, and he is very sorry not to be here tonight. It is supported by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. It would r…

Lords Debate 24 March 2026 2 contributions

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, I will speak in support of Amendment 310 from the noble Baroness, Lady Royall of Blaisdon, while also supporting all the other amendments in this group. I declare my interests as a vice-president of the Local Government Association and of the Town and Country Planning Association, and as a…

My Lords, Amendment 307 would require every local planning authority and every strategic authority, separately or jointly, to appoint a qualified and experienced person to act as chief planner, as a number have done already. This amendment has been championed by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, who has…

Lords Oral Questions 11 February 2026

New Homes Target

I am grateful to the noble Lord for his patience on the long-term housing strategy. We will be publishing that in the first quarter of this year.

Lords Committee Stage 4 February 2026 4 contributions

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, I have added my name to Amendment 131 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, also supported by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, and the noble Lord, Lord Shipley. The amendment requires local planning authorities, separately or jointly, to appoint one qualified and ex…

My Lords, I will speak to the three amendments in this group, starting with Amendment 133, which has the heading “Support for Mayoral Development Corporations”. The amendment concerns the measures in Part 2 of the Bill that will facilitate strategic authorities establishing mayoral development cor…

+2 more contributions in this session

Lords Committee Stage 20 January 2026

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 7 and 128 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Royall of Blaisdon. They are supported by my noble friend Lord Cameron of Dillington and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. I declare my interests as a vice-president of the Local Government Associ…

Lords Oral Questions 8 January 2026

New Homes: Target

I can give the noble Lord that assurance. We are determined to make sure that, as we go through the process of building the 1.5 million homes, enough social and affordable housing is included in that target. He will know that I take particular care to not conflate the terms “affordable housing” and …

Lords Debate 27 October 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I have added my name to those of the noble Lords, Lord Lansley, Lord Shipley and Lord Banner, in support of Amendment 106, which would require local planning authorities to appoint one qualified and experienced person as chief planner. This would recognise the status of the officer respons…

Lords Debate 27 October 2025 2 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 89 and to speak to Amendment 97, which both cover the content of the new spatial development strategies introduced by this Bill. I was very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, who moved these amendments in my absence after 2 am during the Committee stage…

My Lords, I am very grateful for the support, including from the Minister, both for the extension of M4(2) standards to all homes and for a handful of them to be for full-wheelchair use, such as the kind that the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, spoke of. I say to the noble Lord, however, that we are n…

Lords Debate 22 October 2025 3 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 72, which addresses the issue of affordable housing delivery. I am grateful for the support of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, the noble Lord, Lord Carlile of Berriew, and the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, and I know the noble Lord, Lord You…

My Lords, I am deeply grateful to noble Lords for their support for Amendment 72. I thank my noble friend Lord Carlile for his eloquent words, and I offer the noble Baronesses, Lady Grender, Lady Pinnock and Lady Bennett, sincere thanks for their support. The noble Lord, Lord Jamieson, is unfortunat…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Debate 14 October 2025

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I am grateful for all the contributions to our ongoing discussions on these matters. On the failure-to-sell points, the noble Lords, Lord Cromwell and Lord Pannick, queried why we are determined not to reduce the no-let period to six months if the landlord can prove that the property is n…

Lords Debate 11 September 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, possibly it is suitable for me to go next, because I shall speak also to Amendment 184, just to conclude the debate on that. Amendment 184 is in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, who has presented it in such an engaging way that I hardly feel it worth any of the rest of us s…

Lords Debate 9 September 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I support Amendment 135, proposed by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey. I piloted the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Bill through your Lordships’ House in 2015, so I have an ongoing vested interest in the progress that this has made. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, not just for a f…

Lords Debate 9 September 2025 3 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I rise with some trepidation after that terrific debate on green spaces to speak to Amendment 122, together with Amendments 141 and 151, all of which address the issue of affordable housing delivery. Amendment 122 introduces a free-standing new clause which provides for regulations to ens…

My Lords, this has been another really good debate; I am grateful to all noble Lords who participated. The noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, supported the amendment and made the point that, after the deduction of the social rented homes we lose each year, the net increase of social rented homes—the mo…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Oral Questions 8 September 2025

Planning Delivery: Acceleration

I thank the noble Lord for those comments. Of course, he has great expertise in this area, which I recognise and welcome. I think there are a number of things being done in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to address that imbalance. I think the resources that we are putting into the planning sys…

Lords Debate 4 September 2025 3 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I support Amendment 162 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, supported by the noble Lord, Lord Shipley. It calls for every local authority to appoint a chief planner, and I thank the Royal Town Planning Institute for championing it. I must declare various interests as I have not al…

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Inglewood, had to leave, so I am moving Amendment 114 in his place, with the support of the noble Baronesses, Lady Freeman of Steventon and Lady Pinnock, and the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay. The amendment would make the Gardens Trust a statutory consultee…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Debate 15 July 2025 2 contributions

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I will briefly support Amendment 110 in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Cromwell and Lord Hogan-Howe. I am grateful to Safer Renting, ACORN and the Renters’ Reform Coalition for bringing this matter to our attention. My noble friends have noted that this is a milder and more focused ver…

My Lords, I will comment on Amendment 91 in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, and the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson. Their amendment would exempt a landlord from joining the new redress/ombudsman scheme if that landlord’s property is managed by an agent who is already a member of one of the e…

Lords Oral Questions 15 July 2025

Housebuilders: Information Sharing

I have much sympathy with what the noble Lord says. He has great expertise in this area, and I recognise that. Our focus is on creating a more balanced and competitive market overall by addressing the systemic barriers that prevent SMEs and others delivering more homes. We are taking action to suppo…

Lords Debate 7 July 2025 2 contributions

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 74, to which the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, and, to my delight, the Minister, have added their names. I declare my interests as a vice-president of the Local Government Association and of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. Trading standards officer…

I am delighted to receive support from all around the House and am deeply grateful. The commonhold and leasehold reform Bill is on its way shortly. That will provide further opportunities to strengthen the regulatory framework around managing agents and the work they do.

Lords Oral Questions 3 July 2025

Housing Associations: Financial Assistance

I agree with the noble Lord, who has done so much work in this area. Much of the advice he has provided has helped the Government to develop our programmes. In the next few weeks, we will deliver our housing strategy, which will contain details of how the Government intend to move forward with a wid…

Lords Debate 1 July 2025 2 contributions

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, in moving Amendment 25 in my name and those of the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, and the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, I will also speak to my related Amendments 26 to 28. I declare my interests as a vice-president of the Local Government Association, the Chartered Trading Standards I…

My Lords, I am very grateful to noble Lords for their support for my set of amendments, including the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, who made the point that the First-tier Tribunal already faces a backlog and there is the danger that it will get a lot worse in the future. I am grateful to the no…